Bernard Gilchrist

Bernard Gilchrist, who has died aged 83, was the first head of the Scottish Wildlife Trust, having previously spent 20 years preserving forests in Tanzania, formerly Tanganyika, where he demarcated the boundaries of reserves on foot.

When Gilchrist arrived in Scotland in 1965, the fledgling SWT, established the previous year, had a membership of 400 and a low public profile. Over the next 20 years, under his vigorous leadership, it became a highly influential organisation which the government would consult as a matter of course.

A charming and persistent character, Gilchrist established more than 20 nature reserves, including Montrose Basin and Loch of the Lowes. In most cases he tactfully reached agreements with landowners and farmers, but on occasions he negotiated to buy the land, as in the case of Loch of the Lowes, the first reserve to be bought, in 1969.

By the time Gilchrist retired in 1985, the SWT had 8,000 members and owned 23 of the 70 nature reserves in Scotland; today it has 23,000 members and manages some 125 reserves.

The son of a Manchester clothes manufacturer, Bernard Gilchrist was born on May 20 1919. He won a scholarship to Manchester Grammar School, where his love of the wild was fostered by trekking expeditions on the continent. He then won an open scholarship to read Botany at Queen's College, Oxford, where he gained a Half Blue for Lacrosse. After graduating he began a second degree, in Forestry.

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In 1940 he joined the Royal Artillery, but he was soon diverted to the Colonial Service, and returned to Oxford as Colonial Forest Scholar. He spent a year in Tanganyika in 1942 as part of his degree course and went back there the next year after graduating.

On this occasion he sailed in a convoy from the north of Scotland. Not long into the voyage they ran into a ferocious storm during which all the lifeboats, decking and railings were washed away, and the cabins iced up. The ship had to be refitted in Nova Scotia before they continued their voyage via New York, Trinidad and Walvis Bay, South Africa. Restless with life on board, Gilchrist then disembarked to complete his journey overland. Five and a half months after leaving Scotland, he eventually reached his post at Mbeya. His arrival was greeted with great surprise by his superiors, who had assumed he was dead; not long out of Walvis Bay, the ship on which he was travelling had been torpedoed, and he was not on the list of survivors.

In 1946 Gilchrist moved to Mufindi to select and establish a large escarpment forest reserve, and in 1948 to Morogoro, where his responsibilities included the management of the mangrove forest of the Rufiji Delta. After a spell at the Colonial Studies Centre at Oxford, in 1950 he was seconded to the Central African Rail Link Development Survey; the job involved the preparation of a vegetation map for much of southern Tanganyika.

In 1952, before setting off on another assignment into the hills of south-east Tanganyika, he telegraphed Jean Gregory, who was then working as a teacher back in England, proposing marriage. Two days after leaving the post office, and by now deep in the bush, Gilchrist was approached by a local man who held in his right hand a useful-looking spear and in his left a short stick with a split end. In its cleft was Jean Gregory's acceptance telegram. The man was well rewarded and given a good breakfast.

Gilchrist's subsequent assignments included investigations of the forests on Mt Kilimanjaro and Mt Meru (1952); determining the sustainable rate of yield from the West Usambara forest reserves in the Tanga region (1953-59); and drawing up a management plan for Ngorongoro Crater and helping to establish the Engurdoto Crater National Park (1960-62).

Most of the forest reserves he worked in had large numbers of elephant, rhino and buffalo, and since much of his work was carried out on foot, Gilchrist always had to tread warily. He was charged by elephants on several occasions. While on these foot safaris, he enjoyed collecting botanical specimens and taking photographs of the plants with his ancient Leica.

When Tanzania became independent in 1961, Gilchrist stayed on for a further four years, based in Dar es Salaam, ultimately as deputy chief conservator of Forests Tanzania, in charge of all forest development. During this period he drew up a pulp and paper production scheme for Tanzania, and wrote a five-year plan for forest development.

That accomplished, in 1965 Gilchrist accepted the newly-created post of secretary and organiser of the Scottish Wildlife Trust, based in Edinburgh.

As the first full-time member of the Trust's staff, Gilchrist set about organising the formation of regional branches across Scotland as well as editing its newsletter, establishing and advising on nature reserves, and directing field surveys. He appeared for the Trust at public inquiries, advised ministries and directed various conservation campaigns, including those for otters and wildlife around oil-related development.

In his spare time, he organised cruises off the west coast of Scotland in a converted fishing boat, landing on rarely visited islands such as St Kilda, North Rona and the Shiants, and kindling in his passengers an enthusiasm for the flora, fauna and landscapes of the islands. He was also a prime mover in the 1970 Club, formed to carry on the spirit of European Conservation Year, and organised many outings for members, notably safaris in East Africa, which he led.

Bernard Gilchrist was appointed MBE in 1976.

He died on April 17, and is survived by his wife and by their daughter and two sons.